Shim the neck back and raise the bridge. You have to set short scale fenders up like arched top guitars to get a better break angle over the bridge. If you've ever played a vintage fender offset they all have their necks angled back like a gibson

Thanks for the tip about the tape around the bridge, I was going mental trying to work out why it was going out of tune all the time! I've also had to shim the neck on my CV Jag to get the action where I want it + file the fret ends a bit so they're not sharp. But after all that it's a really nice guitar and I'm loving it, thanks for putting these vids out mate.

The big mistake is using strings smaller than 11's on a Jaguar. This guitar wasn't designed to be strung with super slinkys. If set up properly with the correct strings, everything works just as Leo designed it to.

Good video Rob Great guitar your channel has really turned me On to the offset Fender,s!! Rock On Rob☮️🎸🤘

Man I love this one. I need to try some type of offset ...the amount of tones these offer. Insane. Awesome video brother.

Enjoyed the livestream last night! Make livestreams like a weekly thing. It's fun to just chat about guitars and music.

I received my CV70's Jaguar Surf Green a few days ago. I swapped the bridge for a Tune O Matic with rollers, wedged the neck, fret polishing and cleaning (a lot of cleaning) and fretboard hydration ... maybe too much work for a new guitar, the electronics just work fine, the Pickups sound great to my ears and the tuners are correct. It is now one of my favorite guitars. Greetings 💪💪🎸🎸👍👍

Thanks for the interesting video. I just got the same CV 70's Jaguar a few days ago. Fortunately, I haven't had any problems with it. after watching this video the first time, I went and ordered some chrome telecaster knobs. I'm also going to take off those 9's ad put some 10's on it. Some reviewers insists you put 11's on this guitar but my old, small hands just can't handle 11's.

Got one for a Jazzmaster. The B string 'drum' makes a slapping sound when you play with fingers. That's corrected by putting a thin piece of plastic between the B snd E 'drums'

You're the best thank you I just picked one up

Interesting about that bridge. I was thinking about getting one of these but I might wait a bit. Thanks for showing us this!

For having more tension and angle on bridge there is a thing called "buzzstop". You can try them but a friend of mine said that when you use buzzstop the trem doesnt come back to it's normal position. I haven't tried them.

Put a shim in the neck pocket and use heavy strings. That's what I've learned from setting up a VM Jazzmaster and several Mustangs and that's also how the original Jags came from the Fender factory in the early 60's. If the saddles move around because the springs are not strong enough you could try some Loctite. This usually works very well.

pleased to see they're providing a proper 3 ply tortoise now, (on the old model it just looked like burnt/melted cheese) I know it's only a small thing but it used to mean extra money just so the pickguard looked ok.

mint green is nice

sadly through the years, i've had troubles with anything stock on a guitar that cost 500 and less. but replacement parts thankfully even today aren't SUPER expensive

I got my tuning machines in yesterday so I'm gonna take my Jag apart today and try and figure out what's going on with the wiring.

Thanks for taking the time to post these videos; instructive and encouraging to a beginner like myself.

Nice job man

Hey Rob, sorry about the bummed high E! I'd really enjoy a Cobain jag series though. I'd probably just cut the tortoise shell pick guard cuz that's what his had. It's up to you, but I would really love to see a Cobain Jag series!

looks really cool with the humbucker pearloid. You could try chrome covered pickups to give it a bit of a flair. or make the neck chrome, and the bridge black. I have that way on my CV Tele Custom

Hi. Did you ever get to the bottom of what was causing the weird “zingy/ringing” noise on the high E? I’ve got a classic vibe Jaguar and I’m getting the exact same noise out of the upgraded Staytrem bridge I’ve put in there. Thanks and great video 👍🏼

I have one and it's the best. No issues with the Squier jaguar bridge. Errorless!

A tiny bit of lock-tite should help your bridge stay in place!

Had my very cheap Squire Vintage Modified Series Jazzmaster routed and the StewMac Golden Age Bridge & Tremolo installed. Changed the Bridge like you did, but found the string spread was different.

Also, I recall reading that these guitars do better with heavier gauge strings, like 11's. Maybe that cures the bridge saddle issues with the additional tension?

I just ordered one. Should be here in a few days. I may look into spending a little time and money on that bridge. I really like the looks and it doesn't sound bad for the price.....i couldn't pass it up. Lol

Put a poll on the community tab on what to do with the jag

I had a similar problem with a replacement bridge on a VM Jazzmaster I had a few years ago. I finally wrapped some fine wire in a loop around the threads from low E to high E... effectively fusing the saddles together. You could hardly see it and it worked a treat. :)

Instead of plastic tape, you can also use Copper or aluminum tape. I find this adds a bit to the overall sustain. I prefer the copper tape. This also works much better with copper tape on the old MIJ Jag's and Jm's that are grounded on the bridge instead of at the trem plate. Another trick I use a lot on these guitars is replacing the thimbles that go in the body with Tune- o- matic thimbles, remove the feet of the fender/squier bridge and drill a hole in them so you get a kind of TOM/Jag-Jm hybrid bridge. Requires some work, but It makes the bridge more stabile.

Hmm, maybe take a string and tie it around the bridge tight so that the bridge has pressure squeezing it together. That would prevent the high E string saddle from flopping around like that. Pretty much any way you can clamp the bridge would do the trick, though it would not be a pretty fix. I could be completely wrong about it, but that seems as if it would fix the first issue. The second issue being that strange sound, you seem to be on top of it with smoothing out the nut like that so I don't think I have any better ideas on how to fix that issue. Though it might help if you can move the whole back end of the bridge forward a bit, that would increase the break angle and hopefully put more pressure the strings put on the intonation adjuster thingy lol... Once again, I could be really really wrong, but those are the only real thoughts I could come up with to address the two issues you have with at home fixes and not having to order parts lol. -lfaf

Mint green!!!

If you shim the neck and raise the bridge, you’ll increase the break angle and the downward tension on the bridge.

These things really are fussy. i just got some 11's-- Beefy Slinky strings. It definitely made the strings sit down on that bridge a little better, but they still move out of place, if i get too aggressive. Next thing you know you're jamming out and suddenly you get clunky buzzy notes. You really need a light strumming hand in general it would seem to keep these right. And forget about any down tuning on the E. That makes my low E buzz like crazy! A little stressful, but man they're just so pretty. ;D My bridge doesn't rock around like yours did so I don't need the tape, but the little individual smaller pieces move like crazy on it and make the strings come out of place. It is a Vmj. Taking it to a shop this weekend and hoping there is a magician there who can cast a spell on it to make it perfect without costing me an arm and a leg.

I think its a rule that if it a jaguar its bridge has a problom

As much as you deal with these i thought you would have done a neck shim and raise the bridge. I string 10's on mine and I have the original bridge (vintage modified) and it plays/intonates/sounds great. Keep it coming with the offset content!

Great video. Very informative. I am thinking about a Jaguar or maybe a Yamaha Pacifica ( Yamaha is my favorite brand for low-cost acoustic guitars) and I was wondering if there was anything else I could find out about the Jaguar Classic Vibe that might makemy decision a little easier. I really don´t need the tremolo bar and would prefer that the guitar stay in tune as much as possible. Does anybody know if the Squier Classic Vibe Jaguar has the blocking option built in like other models of Jaguars?

Nice, I love "mods" (or fixes) that don't involve buying a $250 part (cough-cough mastery bridge). Question: with the electrical tape wrapped around the bridge posts, is it still grounded? Or are the strings grounded by way of the vibrato tailpiece? Thanks.

I’ve been watching all your videos about jaguars and squire jags as well, and I was wondering; do you think it would be a good idea if I bought the sunburst squire jag and replaced the pick ups with dimarzio distortion ones to make it like the kurt cobain jag. I really want the kurt jag but it’s way too expensive and I thought the squire with different pick ups would be a good idea, do you think it would be ? And do you think it would sound like kurts clean tone because I have no idea

what's the string spacing on this? anything above 52mm e.g. the usual 55mm tends to have the high e hang off the fretboard ? at least on the VM models

What are you using to file the nut? I know there are files for that specific job but they are bloody expensive.

Just got one of these, it seemed fine, then suddenly my top E was unplayable, the bridge seems to have dropped on one side by 3-5 mm is it easy to sort out?

Johnny Marr says to use 11s power slinky strings with your Jaguar so that's good enough for me.My Blacktop p90 version doesn't have a trem so no worries about wobbly bridge ,it's got a solid tune-a-matic bridge but looking into whether a roller bridge would drop straight in as thinking about Duesenberg Les Trem

Thanks for this video. I thought I really wanted a Jaguar but after watching all the necessary bridge mods and/or bridge replacement plus possibly having to shim the neck no thanks. My old MIA and MIK Fender strats didn't need all those mods; I even bought a cheapo $97.00 Chinese import project guitar and straight out of the box it only needed a little intonation adjustment to play and sound good. Fender should be ashamed.

There is a roller assembly available on you tube,and other places im sure,that screws to the trem plate,and increases bridge pressure to never slip again. For about 15.00 its as easy as 2 screws

Saddles are the wrong spacing for the neck and its annoying! why arent they 52mm spaced??

I bought the Squier Jazzmaster classic vibe 60's with same bridge. After 2 hours of playing the bridge dropped where the strings were hitting the frets from the vibration of playing. They are fussy little buggers. I should have known better owning other Jaguars/Mustangs. Locktight/nail polish on the bridge height screws to keep them from buzzing/dropping. I also have Jazzmaster w/ Adjusto-Matic bridge with incredibly low action and no buzz. I will upgrade my others to Adjusto-matics, eventually. I like the idea of the Mastery bridge, but they are really expensive, and I get great results from the Adjusto-Matic.

I have the same guitar. Would you recommend changing the bridge and stock pick ups?

if you're replacing the pots are you putting 1 megs back in? i thought the usual rule for single coils was 250k

If I may Sir, I would suggest that you need to increase the break angle, the way to do this is to get a 1* degree neck shim and kick the back of the neck up so you can raise the bridge up.

Thanks for your video Sir. If you have a few seconds. I have just got one of the Jazz last week, partly on the basis of your other video. To solve issues I went the buzz stop + 250 pot route. Now it seems to have lost in mojo but "plays" nice, strings don't jump out of the bridge etc. Vibe is not the same. I wonder if it is buzz stop and/or the 250 pot. Have you tried to modify the pots?

I know this is an old video, but would changing the bridge with a genuine fender mustang bridge work?

You could get a Tune o matic which would stop the saddles from wiggling. It would also look more like the Cobain version. The trem on the classic player jag is closer to the bridge, but I think they only do it on that guitar. Which size of Allan key do you need to remove the stock black knobs on the jag? I looked for a while in my dads toolbox and couldn't find one.

Got mine last Saturday . First thing I recognised was a crooked pickup screw in the bridge pickup . But the worst thing is the bridge is damaged , one foot fell off !!! What aftermarket bridge would fit in there , as it is a 9,5 radius on the frettboard and all aftermarket bridges are 7,5 radius !!

ive had mine for week , im still teaking it , the bridge is just weird , two posts balanced in thimbles ? the trem is noisy , and it will not stay in tune , ive shimmed it and set the neck relief, raised the bridge and put heavier gague strings on it , iv also spray painted the body in black matte and burnt the chrome plates to bring out the copper , it looks cool as but it still not right

Once you have the intonation and string height set to preference apparently the bridge rattle can be remedied by dropping some clear nail polish into the bridge screws/springs. Probably a safer option than Loctite superglue method as you can always take off the varnish with nail polish remover.

Shim the neck (american series come this way from the factory) it will change the neck angle enough that you'll have to raise the bridge to get normal string height giving you a sharper break angle over the bridge.

I was thinking to get one of these. I went to the local GC to demo it. I liked it a lot and enjoyed the tonal variety. I did not care for the glossy neck (I'm so used to the satin or unfinished necks that it's hard to go back to these). Oddly, I had serious issues with the high E string on their stock model. It got worse the more I played it. It sounded like it was fretting out from the 12th fret on, and even just playing the open string. Seeing the same issue here makes me not want to get one. I was hoping it was a bum Squier...but they might all be problematic.

I say take a file and create a deep groove in each saddle. The bridge has to go anyhow...nothing ventured, nothing gained...nothing to lose.

I got one in green and it felt like a toy with the 9’s on so I switched to 10’s which helped a bit but still felt too loose and rattly in the bridge and trem. A set of 12’s sorted mine. The nut will need dressing but mine is a keeper now. Absolutely love it.

Yeah my 70s cv Squier bridge moves around while playing and I have to put it in place after 20 mins of playing otherwise it distorts the sound which is a no no I'll try to tape and see how that works I've got a 9 string set rn and wanted to go down to 8 but that seems like a pretty bad idea after seeing this vid

hope you will modify it exactly to Cobain Jag

Personally I think you should keep the tortoise pickguard but do whatever you want man, it's your guitar!

Que guitarra es la negra que tenees detras?

So is the bridge actually 9.5" radius? Sorry if that's mentioned in the video.

I’m surprised to see the routing is two single coils only

My Cobain Jaguar sounds exactly the same on the e string. Any advice on what to do?

Raising the action will help with sustain/buzz. Those guitars shine with heavier strings/higher action. you shouldn't have to go to high, but its night and day comparing these offsets to my Strats. Doesn't mean they are worse. Just different. That said, I preferer and play my offset Fenders 90% of the time.

Are all these problems to be expected when spending $400 for a guitar? Is there quality control at this price? Obviously not. I all ways wonder what guitar manufacturers are thinking after they produce a guitar and they know the guitar has fret buzz, uneven frets, sharp frets, rough fretboard nut etc. and they say "screw it, release it any way."

Try a buzz stop. It puts a sharper break angle on the bridge and eliminates the ringing on the trem. I put one on my Jay Mascis jazzmaster and it solved the problem and actually made the guitar sound better. Inexpensive part.

All this after paying £350 for squier? is it just your guitar or are all these squier jags cv 70s are like this?

Finally someone has the same problem as me

mastery bridge

Try using 11 gauge strings. Jaguars are short scale, that bridge kinda sucks, and the tension from the tremolo to the bridge is not much (at least with the original design, I don't know if these new classic vibes models have the tremolo closer to the headstock like the new Player series, that solves the tension issue). If the thicker string don't work, change the bridge for a TOM or a staytrem, or maybe just the saddles, graphtech has self-lubricating saddles for jaguars and jazzmasters.

I just got one and this isn't an issue, possibly they fixed it?

I just barely missed the live stream premier. But that bottom E is very bothersome.

were did you buy the pickguards?

i know this isn't really relevant but i really hate the bass iv bridge on the squier it doesn't intonate and the intonation screws stick out . they sell them with mastery bridges but mines got the old style bridge . i bloody hate it!

I enjoy your videos. One question: where are the pickguards from? I got a vm jaguar and a pickguard from Custom world Guitar Parts. It don‘t fit properly.

Just bought this yesterday and im getting buzzing in like 4 strings

I own a Vintage Modified Jag, I just now realized they switched the bridge on these. So is this a Squier-made 9.5" Mustang bridge? Mastery bridges are great, but I went with the StayTrem as it was closer to a stock bridge in construction. It's pre-radiused much like this new mustang one, but using 11-52 (EXL-116) strings and no neck shims and it's played great for me! StayTrem quit shipping internationally so I'm glad I got mine when I did, but if you live in the UK it looks like you can still order one. staytrem.com/

Maybe put abit of super glue against the bridge posts lock them together?.??

Thanks for sharing all your work! The tortoise looks best, in my opinion...

Try a staytrem bridge ..also make sure you get the right radius for this guitar.

Stay trem bridge £65 game changer!

Glad I didn't buy one of those.. that would irritate me to no end.. I'm more of a tele guy anyway tho😁

0:42 you know you're right? lol

Dude ,you could put a set of hofner toaster pickups or a set of gretch filtertrons

The bridge design has always been a fail Fender dont like changing much.Best option would be find a roller bridge replace inserts and a neck shim is essential for a better break angle behind the bridge to reduce pinging also wrapping a shoe lace or a piece of foam on the strings behind the bridge will stop some pinging.

Diaddarios are junk also....high E always snaps from ball at bridge

If you want to know how to get the best from any Fender offset take a look at this Premier Guitar magazine article . The info given is straightforward, bullshit free and accurate and certainly helped me to improve the set up on my Jag without any great mystery being involved, the trem now works as Mr Fender intended, I have a comfortable action using 11s and it keeps tune well. www.premierguitar.com/articles/25516-diy-how-to-set-up-jazzmasters-jaguars

Think this needs a buzz stop?

I had the same problem with my squier jaguar bridge, this buzz stop is the solution: www.thomann.de/de/allparts_tremolo_buzz_stop_chrome.htm

This has put me right off this guitar. What a massive hassle. Do the more expensive jags / jazz masters have these issues?

Umm...whammy?

The big mistake you made was pronouncing Jaguar with a long U sound

Send the crappy guitar back

I think its a rule that if it a jaguar its bridge has a problom